How to Make Quality Comments When Blogging

I found this wonderful class blog where the teacher, Mrs. Yollis, and her students teach us how to develop quality comments when blogging.  They have five tips for writing quality comments. I thought this would be a wonderful resource for any teacher, especially elementary teachers.  Here is their video:



How to Compose a Quality Comment! from yourwonderfulteacher on Vimeo.

Check out Mrs. Yollis' blog for lots of great ideas!

Breaking Down Classroom Walls With Web 2.0 ~ Collaborative learning through social media

The Brains Behind BrainPOP Series: Breaking Down Classroom Walls With Web 2.0
Wednesday, April 20

4:30 pm EST

RSVP: http://classroomweb.eventbrite.com/

We're kicking off a series of webinars designed to help you get to know the people behind BrainPOP! In this first installment, you'll meet David Grandison, Jr., our Production Manager and a social media guru. Join David and explore the ways social media and collaborative learning can enhance the development of 21st century skills in your students. He'll offer an overview of the newest types of educational tools out there and discuss methods to make them work for you and your students. 

Progress Report ~ Week of April 4

I have had the most AMAXING week diving into social networking and online colaboration.  I saw the entire process come alive through a couple experience I had through simply exploring the websites provided in our assignment.  Each of these experiences lended itself to helping me further fulfil the goals of my GAME plan.

As I strive to "facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity" and "promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes," my goal was to research online sources.  This week I found the most amazing 4th grade blog where students are actively engage is writing expressing their own creativity and understanding of the world around them.  Please check out this classroom blog: Mrs. Surridge's Class.  Each student has their own blog within the class blog, and they actively blogging about their lives at all times of the day and night!This is truly blogging, self expression, at its best!

I also was able to collaborate with two 4th grade teachers about the possibilities of our classes blogging.  One teacher is in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the other is in Illinois.  Both were very excited about the possibilites our classes had for online collaboration, so now I am introducing both blogs to my students and discussing how they can become actively involved with these two classes. Both these contacts I discovered through the Flat Classrooms Ning.  I am truly excited about the possibilities and experiences that are possible through social networking and online collaboration!

Progress Report of Game Plan ~ Week of March 28

Thank goodness for the refreshing time of spring break as I've come to the planning process with a fresher, clearer mind in how to approach accomplishing my GAME plan.  

As I have spent time this week researching technology mentors and resources relating to my two goals, one simple idea became clearly obvious to me about my first goal.  Each resource that captured my attention and effectively demonstrated student reflection and collaboration highlighted the use of a vibrant, growing, interactive blog.  While I have a class blog within my website with SchoolWorld, its capabilities are limited, and I'd have to say it is not accomplishing what I desire and am drawn to in other great classroom blogs!  I have had an internal struggle for the last year about changing my blog, but I knew this would be a bit of a complicated process, so I kept putting it off.  After thinking through and contemplating how I would accomplish goal 1 of my GAME plan, I knew it was time to change blogs!  One factor that made this switch easier to accomplish is the familiarity I have developed with blogspot.com because of my blogging experiences in graduate school.  This week I have successfully launched our new class blog, and cannot wait till my students return to school to get them started in the collaborative process!!!


Not only will my new blog help me accomplish goal 1, but I am wanting to use this platform as a springboard into students using technology to pursue their individual curiosities sharing them with the class and our blog audience.  Not only will our class blog be used in collaboration about creative student learning, but it will also be a place to document student curiosities, learning goals, and assessment of individual and group progress within academic learning.  The blog become a type of journal where students share and fellow collaborators become active participants in goal setting and assessing of individual and group progress.  


I have to admit, my confidence in accomplishing my GAME plan has grown in leaps and bounds this week.  I feel as if I final have the focus for implementation of my goals.  As I move forward, my questions are about how to work around my student teacher's solo teaching time and what will be my first couple of academic activities that will easily lend to collaboration, student curiosities, goals, and assessments.  


Here's an excellent article I came across this week about a 3rd grade class in Minnesota using their blog in an effective way:
     They're learning to write, and they've got readers

My Progress Towards Accomplishing My GAME Plan:

In working through the many steps in accomplishing my goal, I am at a frustrating point.  With limited time due to several school responsibilities that have left me stretched thin, I am having a difficult time finding information and resources to accomplish my goals.   My thoughts are that over my spring break, this next week, I want to spend more time researching resources necessary to accomplish my goals.  I also want to reconnect with several professional collaboration websites and starting talking to other teachers about how they are working through the ideas I’m contemplating. 

I have also considered as I read through my goals, that I may need to be less broad and focus on one or two key ideas that would encompass the two ISTE-NETS that I desire to grow in.  I think in the beginning when I wrote my GAME plan, I was unsure of what I was aiming for.  Whether talking to my instructor or re-reading instructions, I want to gain a clearer picture of the end goal I am trying to achieve with my GAME plan.  After more indepth time contemplating these issue, I forsee having many more ideas to share of what I have learned or new questions that have come up in my learning process.  

Carrying Out My Game Plan

In reviewing my Game Plan, several resources are necessary to carry out my plan.  First, developing a network of resources to study and analyze learning more about student reflection using collaborative tools allows me to build a foundation of learning for my plan.  Also, I need other teachers who can share their use of these collaborative tools and how they effectively incorporate these strategies into understanding their students thinking through the use of these collaborative tools. 

This week to help me begin the process of achieving my GAME plan, I reached out to a teacher within my district to begin this process of learning from another peer on student reflection collaborative tools and other ideas I am learning in this class.  She responded positively and was supportive in wanting to assist in any way she could.  Another step I am wanting to take is more reflection on which curriculum topics would be suited for this type of learning approach.  Sometimes I have difficulty with this, especially in the area of Math.  

My Game Plan ~ NETS-T

In considering the ISTE- NETS-T (for teachers, http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx), I found several areas I felt confident in.  In contemplating areas I wanted to develop more confidence in, I have chosen these two areas of the NETS-T:

#1: Facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity: promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.

#2: Designs and Develops Digital-Age Experiences: develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.

G: My goal: to develop confidence in the two areas listen above. 

A:These are the following actions I will take to meet goals:

·      1. research each area online to find other teacher/schools who have dealt with the same difficulties

·      2. read articles addressing the areas of weaknesses

·      3. talk with other teachers within my district to determine how they pursue fulfilling these two areas of concerns I desire to grow confident in.  

M: How I will monitor progress towards the achievement of my goals:

·      1. journal about conversations, contacts, articles read, anything dealing with my learning about these two areas.

·      2. write down questions and concerns of implementing these goals.

·      3. find teachers to discuss these concerns with.

E: How I will evaluate whether goals were achieved; extend learning to new situations:

·      1. my evaluation of whether or not I have achieved my goals will be determined through an analysis rubric based upon this game plan

·      2. evaluation will also be determined by growth of students as they implement my new learning and development of my goals.